The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-07-06

that suggestion once came up, be- direct
recognition Ct the rights Of the rebellious
organization.-N. y. Tribune
Solution of the Labor Problems.
The best thinkers on economic topics
seem TO be more nearly unanimous han
ever before in the opinion that co-opera-
ton is to be the ultimate solution Of the
I industrial problems of our day. Tins
! view was held, it is We. known, by the
( Christian socialists of England thirty y-five
years ago, and at that time they had
mapped out pretty clearly hle form OF
cooperation which they thought future
society would adopt. Among them were
some Of the most gifted EngIishmen Of
this century, who have demonstrated
long ago that they were nc, mere vis-
ionaries, but that, on the contrary, they
far excelled in practical wisdom the'r de
tractors. Many Of thes early Chris iai.
socialists, now old men, after a ..fe rich N
experience, still maint.in their sorme.
opinion about co-operat n. Mr. Thomas
Hughes. for example. writes: stii.
iook to this movement as the best hop
for England and other lands"
John Stuart Mil frequently gave ex-
preston 10 somewhat similar views, al
though he doubtless held that public au-
thority would play a more impor at role
in futur .llustrial society than di he
Christian socialists. He sympathized-
at any rate in his later days-to greater
extent with the State socialists Of ,he
Continent Perhaps the result Of r. mt
studies in economic is best given By Pro-
fessc~ Henry G. Adams in these wor <.
The cooperatlse principle is the one to
which the wages system must give way
bit what part lar form indus al or
s,-iization viii Ike no one can say
The world has ever been restless under
any socia {ystem which tolerated sen
arati"n Of labo' md capital for althor-
tic -hings for which these words stand
may, as the trite iying has it, be allies,
not enemies, I SAFE has not always
been true Of those who furnish capital
and Ia or; nor can any honest man say
that their interesss are precisely Identical
The point of divergence of interest is so
sharp, and the ultimate separation 80
wide, as to give good deal of support 10
the doctrine that their enmity lives in
the nature of things. They have not al
rfed on ~nnuerrneg guidance u men a1ro
owned their tools, and employed them
with their own hands, Capital WAS not
an important separate factor, for it was,
as a rule, united with labor in ownership.
Still earlier. and also still later, we have
which united labor and capital
in the same hands, namely, the hands Of
the master who owned labor precisely rs
he owned capital. Both were chattels.
The arguments urged for this union by
the abIest advocates of slavery We're pow
erful Again and again they pointed out
the imPossibility of permanently har-
social relations should labor and
capital be supplied by two distinct in
dustrial classes. They were never salts
factorily answered on this point. But
their conclusion was nevertheless unwar-
ranted. The first stage in the evolution
of industrial society finds labor and eapi
tai united. and the stage of evolution to
which we must come viii also witness
their union, but there will be this radical
difference: in the one period of evolution
they are united in the hands of capital
lists, in the other, they viii be found in
the hands of the laborers.
As John Stuart NIill SAYS, this must be
brought about by development of the
partnership principle. No one, rs al
ready stated. can tell exactly what form
this will take. but some things seem al
ready clear Corporations viii play an
part in this development, as
they gradually become more democratic
in their tendencies. Corporations and
enterprises viii become more
and more nearly assimilated until they
can scarcely be distinguished. President
Francis \. Walker, in his treatise on Po-
litical Economy. dwells on the impor-
tance of industrial leadership, and be-
lieves that cooperative enterprises have
not a great future because the captains Of
industry are not in their employ. Every
word which he saws about the impor-
tance of the services rendered by leaders
in the economic world is true, but there
are two things which he overlooks: First,
the power of perfect organization, which
is daily becoming more apparent IN ev-
erv domain of life and which is now
achieving triumphs remarkable beyond
precedent. The second is the fact that
the captains of industry win vet be found
at the head of cooperative enterprises. 1t
was that kind of cooperation which we
find in corporations which first gave them
their present position-which, it may al
most be said, first called them into exis-
tence. When corporations become more
truly cooperative with respect TO the
labor element, the captains of industry
viii not disappear.
Some have advocated total suppress
sion of corporations; but even were this
possible, il is plain that it would be ret
rograde movement. There is, Fortunate
ly, a conservative middle ground be-
tween the radicalism which would
sweep away these useful industrial forms
and the equally dangerous obstiqacy
which rejects all suggestions of change
The arguments advanced by the enemies
of corporations must convince any fair
minded man that there are evils INSOFAR
ably connected with corporations as they
exist TODAY in the United States, but an
analysis of these arguments reveals the
fact that they do not apply equally TO all
classes Of corporations.-rrof X. T. Ely,
in Harper's Magazine for July.
An important Element